Hollywood installing artificial turf at Dowdy Field

Work at Dowdy Field, 2161 Johnson St., is slated to begin this month and will take about six months to complete. The city will install an artificial turf soccer field and general athletic field similar to that in place at 31 other facilities throughout Hollywood.

The city estimates it will save $80,000 a year because the artificial fields do not require regular maintenance and will eliminate the cost for fertilizers, pesticides and lawn cutting and watering.

The project cost is $829,000 and is being funded by the bond issue approved by city voters in 2004.

"If everything goes as planned, we would be [renovating the field] between soccer seasons," said Jack Mathison, assistant director of the city's parks department.

Teams that usually have access may have to be relocated during the upgrades, but once the project is finished, the soccer field will be more accessible to residents than ever.

"We don't typically open it for everyday use, but when we put in the synthetic field, we will be able to open it every day, like the one we have over at the Hollywood West fields," Mathison said.

The park also serves as a baseball/softball facility and was formerly home for a New York Yankees minor league squad.

Mathison said they have continued to use the same kind of turf because it mimics grass so well. It prevents field damage, has an eight-year warranty and has built-in microbial properties.

"The Sports Max Grass is state of the art," he said. "It has two different kinds of blades: short, curly blades and long, straight blades. It looks nice, it feels nice, it has a real comfortable feel to it. It's not the old Astroturf that I used to play on when I was younger — you know, the cheesy looking ones that you sometimes see in the department stores. The one we're getting is so much better."